1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an injection molding system. The present invention relates in particular to an injection molding system that places a temperature control hose in its position, the temperature control hose being adapted to supply a temperature control liquid for adjusting a temperature inside of a mold at the time of replacement of the mold.
2. Description of the Related Art
For production of a molded article in a stable manner by an injection molding machine, a temperature of a mold needs to be controlled with high accuracy in accordance with the characteristics of resin or any other relevant materials. For that purpose, generally a passage is provided that allows a temperature control liquid to flow in the mold, and the temperature control liquid is supplied from an external mold temperature controller or the like via a temperature control hose so that the temperature inside of the mold can be adjusted.
In this context, attachment and detachment operation of the temperature control hose and other relevant operations need to be performed every time the mold is replaced by another mold. In addition, since the mounting positions of molds vary depending on the specific types of the molds, it has been a cumbersome task to adjust the temperature control hose to correspond to the various mounting positions.
Detachment and connection of a hose or the like of this kind are generally performed by manual operation by an operator or performed using an automatic attachment/detachment type mold replacement system such as an automatic coupler.
According to the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-178378, an L-shaped positioning block of a mold for production of an article is pressed against a temperature control concentration block of a platen, and thereby the positioning of the mold and the platen with respect to each other is performed. By virtue of this feature, a heat control pipe of a movable template and a heat control pipe of the temperature control concentration block are effectively and reliably connected to each other.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H10-44157 discloses a mold replacement system which connects a temperature control pipe and the like to a mold on this mold replacement system, and performs the replacement of the mold while this state is maintained.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H4-86237 discloses, as a mold temperature control mechanism for providing temperature control for a mold in an injection molding machine, techniques associated with automatically connecting a temperature control liquid supply device and a temperature control liquid passage to each other using an automatic connection mechanism.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2002-178378 discloses positioning of the mold and the platen with respect to each other and subsequent connection of a hose from an external temperature controller. However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-178378 does not explicitly disclose specific features associated with how the hose is brought into its connected state. Even when it is assumed that an operator realizes the connected state by his/her manual operation or using a certain device therefor, it is necessary to provide a mold-side pipe opening at a connection opening of a fixed temperature control hose, which may compromise the flexibility of the mold design.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-44157 discloses that the temperature control pipe is connected to the mold on the mold stage of the mold replacement system. However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-44157 does not disclose the specific feature associated with how the temperature control pipe is brought into its connected state. As a result, it is necessary to provide a mold-side pipe opening at a connection opening of the mold stage of the mold replacement system, which may compromise the flexibility of design in the same or similar manner as in the case of the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-178378.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H4-86237 discloses techniques associated with typical automatic mold replacement system. However, an automatic mold replacement system is very expensive. Moreover, only one injection molding machine that is compatible with the specific automatic mold replacement system is allowed to be used with that system.